Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Earlier this week I had someone message me on Facebook and tell me to quit being so positive. They then proceeded to talk about how sheltered my life must have been for me to be so damn cheery all the time.

After some sadness, hurt, and anger, I chuckled and realized it was stupid to feel upset by this person because, quite obviously, they didn't know me at all.

We all have horrors we face in life. In facing mine I choose to think positive and try to be optimistic. Before you say anything, yes, it absolutely is a choice I make each and every day.

The reason I make it is because if I become a bitter, cynical, evil bitch to pay back the world for what it did to me, then I allow the people who tried to break me to win.

I have a quote I love by Patrick Stump; "When you have a bad day, a really bad day, try and treat the world better than it treated you."

It's something I strive very hard to do. Admittedly, I do better some days than others but, I'm still working on it.

Perhaps those folks who sneer at my positive quotes and funny pics have no clue that sometimes, when I post those, I'm in severe pain and feeling really low. They don't know I need to be cheered up, myself.

To me, this is part of treating others like I want to be treated. It's a major tenant of my belief system. Which brings me to Gandhi's bastardized, yet still beloved, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

If you're tired of bad, vicious, and horrible people doing terrible things; stop giving those people attention. Focus on the good things being done in the world.

It's true, believe it.

Perhaps if we balance the bad with the good we won't have as many of the people who set out to get famous by shooting their schools up, or worse. Then again, I'm a fan of using both positive and negative behavioral reinforcement in training so please don't think I'm suggesting leniency.

Here's hoping that one day we see more weight placed on the good deeds of a person than the size of their ass or their ability to bluster and strut while looking hot.

If we want change we can't just sit back and whine about it. We have to make it for ourselves.

Life is about balance and we need to balance the bad of the world with the good. Currently, the news outlets balance it with celebrity gossip, which is often just as negative as the news itself.

Do bad things happen in this world; absolutely. Should we talk about them; absolutely. Should we talk about ONLY them?

Do you ever wonder why so many people are suffering depressive disorders? We are bombarded with nothing but negativity and impending doom from the start of our days with the morning news. Is your tap-water killing you? Find out at 11! Because having that fear over your head all day is great for all you anxiety sufferers.

Hell, even the fluffy morning shows are filled with negativity in the form of gossip. They pay people to invade celebrities lives and spread all their dirty laundry for the world to see.

Add to that, we don't go outside and experience the world around us anymore; we're too wrapped up in smartphones and the latest news. We have to find out first before our Facebook friends, don't we?

It's sad that many of us don't invest as much of ourselves in our actual communities these days because we have become so enamored of our virtual ones. This is something I am guilty of, for sure.

This new virtual world version of society has the power to make someone famous in the blink of an eye and the power to rip it away just as fast. We've become slaves to instant gratification and, frankly, it saddens and scares me.

I know I can't see without my rose colored glasses.

That said, being sad doesn't do anything to help. So, instead, I promise to do my best to impact the world around me in the most positive ways I can.

This is the base of my nature and I don't think I'd have lived this long without it. Even during the times when I'm not feeling positive at all, I still fake it. Because, as science has shown, faking a smile or cheerfulness can lead to an actual smile and real cheer.

I also get that not everyone is built this way and I'm not suggesting we all should be. I'm merely explaining why I am this way and why it's important to me to continue living my life like this. If you want to unfriend me or dislike me for it, well, that's really none of my business.

*Steps off soapbox*

PS: There are some sites dedicated to positive news and I'm including a link to one of my favorites.
For a restoration of faith in humanity visit http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/